The Other Side of Paris
by I SingOnly4MyAngel
Summary: So I'm sorry for this, but there wasn't a category for the 2012 movie of Les Miserables, so really this should be Les Mis X Phantom of the Opera movie crossover. Madame Antoinette Giry takes a shortcut through the wrong side of town...


Antoinette was regretting taking the short cut through the slums of St Michel. This area was one where no one should come during the day, let alone after dark. Some people simply stared at her as she passed, their eyes seeming to peer through to her very soul. Others actually rose when she walked by, and then there was the occasional individual who smiled at her, and she smiled in return.

They all sat around small fires, many people crammed around the dying embers. They all were dirty, and their clothes torn. These were the population of this area, and she thought there were far too many. A child, a little girl holding a rag doll, came up to her and touched the bottom portion of her skirt with a pale and grubby little hand. The girl drew her hand back quickly, like she had been burned, and gazed up at Antoinette, her blue eyes wide and fearful. Antoinette merely smiled, and she knelt down to be level with the girl, balancing neatly on her toes.

"Good evening, mademoiselle," she said, addressing the girl. "And what might your name be?"

For a moment, the girl made no sound, but then she brought the doll up to her chest and buried half of her face in it, so that her large blue eyes just poked out above the doll's head. Antoinette cocked her head slightly to one side, and said with a smile, "Come now, I don't bite."

"I'm Cosette," the girl whispered into her doll.

"Hello Cosette. My name is Madame Giry. I was just on my way home. Do you live somewhere close by?." The girl pointed wordlessly to a building that seemed slightly lopsided. Though it was late, there was light shinning through the cracked, dirt-encrusted windows. Laughter and shouting could be heard from inside.

"I live with Monsieur and Madame Thenardier," the girl said quietly. "They run the inn."

"Ah. How lovely. I live at the Opera house, I'm the ballet mistress there." At this, the girl's eyes got even larger than they already were, and Ann heard her soft intake of breath.

"You really live in that palace where all the rich people go in the evening to see the operas?" she breathed in astonishment. Antoinette laughed.

"Yes, but it's not that grand from the inside." The girl opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could a woman came out of the inn and quickly scanned the street, her eyes stopping at little Cosette.

"There you are girl, wot the hell are you doin' out 'ere? Get inside, before you freeze yer little arse off and catch yer death! Without you we don' get no money from your mother!" And this must be Madame Thenardier, though Antoinette. Madame Thenardier was a rather vulgar looking woman with hair piled on top of her head, almost puffing out from her head for another six inches. With brown roots but the rest of it blonde, it had what looked like a bit of holly stuck in at the top. Her dress was most unusual. A red corset with a swirling pattern stitched in black was worn over a green blouse with dirty, pale coloured, long sleeves. Her skirt looked more like a patchwork quilt fashioned as a skirt than anything else, a rag hung on her narrow belt, and multiple rings adorned her fingers.

Cosette immediately dashed into the inn, but before she turned and following the girl, Madame Thenardier was joined by a red-headed man. He looked over Antoinette with a rather critical eye.

"Oi," he said, "Wot do ya fink you're doin' wiv our Collette?"

"I thought it was Cosette," replied Ann.

"At's wot I said," said the man.

"Anyway," interrupted Madame Thenardier, "Stay away from 'er, she's none o' yer business, and the likes o' you shouldn't be wanderin' round these parts at night. Go back where ya came from and stay there." And she slammed the old, cracked wooden door.

As Antoinette began to walk away, she could see Cosette peering out of one of the grimy windows at her, teetering a bit, as though she was standing on her toes, which was very probable, considering her height. Madame Thenardier barked something unintelligible that made her look behind her. She looked back at Ann for just a moment and gave a small wave with a little smile. Ann smiled back. She turned up a couple of alleyways and once again, to her relief, found herself on a familiar street. Erik would be cross with her if he found out she'd walked back to the opera through that particular area of the city after dark. She made a mental note not to tell him.


End file.
